The Underwater Adventures of PT Hirschfield (click a story below)

Dive 264: Sea Lion Adventure

I celebrated finishing my first palliative Quad Shot of radiation on Friday with a very special dive treat on Saturday. Spunky Abe took LP, Julie Bear and me out on his boat to Chinaman’s Hat off Sorrento where it seemed the sea lions had been waiting all morning for some divers to come to play with them.

Upon arrival, maybe 60 animals lie lethargically on the deck of the large wooden structure, and you could be forgiven for thinking on first impression that the individuals that make up this blubbery, immobile mass are just too large and lazy to move. But underwater, these sea lions (not to be confused with seals that do not have external ear flaps) are feisty, fearless, inquisitive, boisterous and very loud, dancing with all the grace of Rudolf Nureyev in one moment, then fighting with all of Mike Tyson’s ethics the next.

Some are total posers for the camera, while others play rough like naughty children, biting and wrestling each other in a flurry of hyperactive somersaults. Many are juveniles, learning skills and boundaries from their equally playful parents. Others delight in skidding across the ocean floor on their bellies, creating almighty silt storms, some stopping their slide strategically in front of the nearest camera lens.

Thanks to ample silt and endless fascination, I only saw my human dive buddies a couple of times during this hour-long adventure. At one point I was surrounded by up to 20 sea lions, many of them brushing against me, or even kissing my camera or biting my video light! I was a bit worried for a few moments that one or two of the big bulls of the group wanted to play their rambunctious biting games with me, so I spent a few fearful minutes filming with my forearm over my head for protection.

Dive 264 was delightfully, deliciously, mischievously fun, and I would absolutely love to do this again! What an incredibly awe-inspiring way to end a fairly challenging week. As I explained to my oncology nurse after treatment on Friday, while my prognosis may be dire, at this very moment I am as alive as anybody else. While I may not share the same luxury of choosing denial about the inevitability of death, living life to the full is such a wonderful distraction 🙂

Heartfelt tanks to Spunky Abe for this amazing adventure dive, and to those completely crazy sea lions of Chinaman’s Hat for reminding me just how much I truly love being alive. (If you ever need a lesson in what it means to embrace the moment, seize the day and live life to its fullest, make sure you pay them a visit!) And for anyone who is worried about one terminally ill Pink Dive Diva spending so much time underwater – don’t be! My oncologist recommended that I dive as much as I can while I can, so this liddle pink ducky is simply following doctor’s orders! 😛

Love and bubbles,

PT xxx

ps This video is dedicated to my precious father Kirby who was busy breaking his wrist while I was underwater shooting this footage. I hope it puts a big, goofy smile on his face. Love you, Kirby xxx

pps Kirby is not his real name. My brother and I just call him that because most times when he is driving, he manages to hit the car tyres against the curb …

ppps Please like Pink Tank Scuba on Facebook and check out some more of my underwater videos and photos while you are here – tanks so much for visiting! 🙂

How absolutely beautiful to see you do this ~ especially knowing what you are going through. I think God gives you these dives to give you strength and courage and to show us how to enjoy life instead of complaint about it. You are such a precious person and I wish I knew you personally. Your videos of your dives give me the feeling of what its like to dive as I would never have the courage to do it. You are the bravest, most wonderful, most loved woman that I can think of and I just want to say God bless you for sharing so much of your life, your love of what you do in life, and what you are going through. You have my prayers, PT, as well as my intense admiration. I am going to reblog this. I will go back and reblog other ones too because I believe people need to know how to live, not how to complain about living. I hope that makes sense. You are such an inspiration to me! Love and bubbles to you too! xoxoxoxo Rhonda aka nanarhonda

Tank you so much for your amazing encouragement and prayers, nanarhonda. I am so glad you enjoy the video, photos and commentary, and I’m really humbled that you would choose to reblog some of these posts – tank you so much for helping me to share my passion for life and the ocean! I am so honoured to be able to take you with me on my dives through these videos – you inspire me to keep doing what I’m passionate about and to make more videos to share with those who can’t experience this incredible underwater world first-hand. Love, bubbles and God’s richest blessings, PT xxxxx

Oh PT, I will eventually reblog all of them. I want to share your passion and love for life and the ocean. I want to be able to interject your wonderful blogs in when there is so much ugliness going on in the world to show that there is still so much beauty to behold and through your perspective it is even more precious! I hope that I have inspired you to keep doing what you are passionate about and make more videos to share with those of us who cannot do what you do and experience the incredible underwater world first-hand. Like I said, I shall live through you vicariously. Love and bubble and God’s most richest blessings to you as well you precious creation of His, Rhonda aka nanarhonda xxxxxx

Reblogged this on My Soapbox and commented:
You must take the time to see this video, and read what she wrote. It is so awe inspiring when you know the whole story. I will go back and reblog some of her past posts. They are just as precious and awe inspiring as this one. She shows us how to live and not how to complain about living! Thank you to Pink Tank Scuba for your blog!

So that’s why you fell asleep during the movie the other night…you were too exhausted from swimming with sea lions. Do you have any idea how cool that sounds? Of course I didn’t mind you not seeing the rest of the movie with me cause as you were napping, all I could think about was how cool and incredibly awesome you are. I love you sis.

Awwwww – yes, it explains everything, doesn’t it? hehehe 😛 Don’t forget I also dived Flinders on Sunday before the movie, following 4 days of radiation treatment, so yup – Big Sis was totally zonked by the time we got half-way through that bucket of popcorn! 😀 Hope you enjoyed my film, babe, cause that’s as close as I’ll be taking you to those crazy sea lions until your get your Open Water Certificate 😛 😛 😛 Love you to the bottom of the ocean, Little Brother xxxxx

Too phunny 😀 From memory you were the one telling me to chase the off-duty girl in the juice shirt through the shopping centre, so that was just me following instructions – tankfully, your devious plan for world juice domination worked – if I’m Pinky, that must make you The Brain 😛 😛 😛

I’m so glad you enjoyed watching them, Mike. I think they are some of the only critters in the ocean who actually have more fun underwater than I do! Hope you are travelling well – blessings for your journey. Love and bubbles, PT 🙂